Dr. Wecht described "four impact injuries to the top of Rebecca's head not consistent with a vertical hanging that could have led to unconsciousness." He said it could explain the lack of defensive wounds. Her cervical vertebrae were not fractured as typically seen in a drop hanging and of the 47,000 autopsies he has been involved with he could not recall a case of a female hanging herself nude, outdoors. Dr. Wecht did not determine from the autopsy alone that her death was a homicide but was strongly leaning that way based on the findings and totality of the investigation.

An Azle man beat his wife and shaved off her eyebrows and hair because he was upset that she had disciplined her stepdaughter, according to an arrest warrant affidavit released Tuesday by the Parker County Sheriff's Department.

The woman fled their Parker County home last week after her husband struck her more than 20 times and hit her in the stomach with a computer monitor, the affidavit stated.

The husband used shoelaces to tie her up, the affidavit said, but she broke free.

CAMDEN COUNTY, Ga. -- Police have taken the second body found this month on the side of the road in south Georgia from the scene for an autopsy as part of a homicide investigation.

Camden County Sheriff Tommy Gregory confirmed this afternoon that a caller indicated a body was near the woods off the northbound on ramp to Interstate 95 at Exit 14. Police found the body of a female around 2:30 p.m.

They cleared the scene at about 6:30 p.m. today. Gregory said investigators determined the body was there for some time. Sheriff's office spokesman William Terrell said this afternoon the body will be taken to Macon for an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

The prime suspect in the case of missing mother Michelle Parker was given custody of their two children on Wednesday, as the search for Parker in Lake Ellenor and in a wooded area ended for the day. The search was near Oakridge Road, which was the site of Parker's last cell phone 'ping' two weeks ago.

During an emergency hearing on Wednesday, a judge ruled that Dale Smith Jr. will keep custody of the two 3-year-old twins.

Smith knocked an ABC photographer to the ground on Wednesday. Court records show that kind of behavior is not new for Smith.

Miller said EquuSearch was hesitant to return to Orlando because of its pending lawsuit against Casey Anthony.

CAMDEN COUNTY, Ga. -- A sheriff's spokesman in Camden County, Ga., acknowledged that a body found Wednesday night near a south Georgia Interstate 95 on-ramp could be that of missing Orlando woman Michelle Parker, according to First Coast News.

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Parker disappeared 13 days ago, and authorities said her ex-fiance, Dale Smith, is their prime suspect in the case.Read more:

Country singer Mindy McCready has released a statement in response to news reports that she and her five-year-old son Zander have gone missing.

“McCready and son are safe, healthy and comfortable,” her spokeswoman Kat Atwood said in a statement to ABC News.

“No Amber Alert has been issued; this is not a missing child case. Ms. McCready has not been charged with illegal wrongdoings. Ms. McCready’s number one priority has always been, and continues to be, the safety of her son,” Atwood said in a statement. “The 5-year old boy has been with his mother for more than 30 days; law enforcement officials spoke with the child and saw Zander via skype yesterday.”

Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky sexually abused a boy more than 100 times, then threatened to harm his family to keep him quiet, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday that details new accusations not included in criminal charges against Sandusky.

The lawsuit is the first in the Penn State child sex-abuse scandal and identifies the plaintiff, now 29 years old, only as John Doe. It claims Sandusky abused the boy from 1992 to 1996 at the coach's State College home, in a Penn State locker room, on trips to Philadelphia and a bowl game.

The Illinois Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered a lower court to take another look at whether disputed evidence can be used against ex-cop Drew Peterson when his murder trial begins.

The ruling means an Illinois Appellate Court panel must reconsider allowing Will County prosecutors to present more extensive hearsay evidence when Peterson stands trial for the 2004 murder of third wife Kathleen Savio.

PHOENIX — An Arizona jury on Wednesday sentenced a man convicted of being the Phoenix area’s Baseline Killer to death, rejecting his pleas for mercy and denials of guilt and agreeing with prosecutors that the nine murders he committed were especially cruel.

Jurors reached the verdict about a month after they found 47-year-old Mark Goudeau (goo-DOH’) guilty of the nine murders and 58 other charges, including kidnapping and rape.

Dallas psychic, Stephanie Almaguer, envisioned that Lisa Iriwn, the one-year-old who has missing since Oct 4., was killed in some sort of accident in her home and that her body was then dumped near Sam’s Town Casino, which is only a few miles from the Irwin family home.

Stephanie Almaguer joined America Live to talk about the vision she had of Lisa Irwin. She said, “I do believe there was an accident in the home, unfortunately, and I believe baby Lisa was found deceased.”

A North Ogden woman named as a person of interest in a teenage girl’s death will have a preliminary hearing on charges of allegedly exposing a child to drugs, but she waived her right to such a hearing on separate charges of prescription fraud.

Dea Millerberg, 38, appeared in Ogden’s 2nd District court Wednesday for a scheduling hearing on both 3rd degree felony cases.

Prosecutors have said both Dea Millerberg and her husband, 36-year-old Eric Millerberg, may have been involved in the death of 16-year-old Alexis Rasmussen, who disappeared Sept. 10 while baby-sitting for the couple.

Rasmussen’s body was found Oct. 18 near the Weber River in Morgan County. Police said she was taken there and buried in a shallow grave after her death.

CAPE CORAL, Fla. — Florida authorities say country singer Mindy McCready is missing with her 5-year-old son, and a judge has given her until Thursday to return the boy.

The state Department of Children and Families says a missing persons report was filed with Cape Coral police Tuesday night after McCready took her son Zander from her father's home.

McCready doesn't have custody of her son — her mother does — and the singer was allowed to visit the boy at her father's home, according to a department spokesman. On Tuesday, DCF discovered that McCready and the boy were not at her father's home.

The mother of a toddler killed in New Jersey last week sought help from the state to protect her from the girl's father, who's charged with killing the 2-year-old by tossing her into a creek while she was still strapped in her car seat. But the toddler's maternal grandmother said the state's child-protection system failed her.

"She tried to get help and nobody helped her," Michelle Simmons, the grandmother, told The Associated Press on Wednesday, a day after Arthur Morgan III was arrested in San Diego on murder charges. "That was so wrong."

The sheriff's office sent dive teams into Lake Ellenor Wednesday as part of the search for Michelle Parker.

We are told 10 to 15 officers are in the area of Sand Lake Road. Underwater teams are also searching Lake Ellenor. The Orlando Police Department is the main agency handling the investigation, but OPD does not have a dive team, which is why the sheriff's office is involved.

The Illinois Supreme Court ordered a lower court to reconsider whether eight hearsay statements should be allowed in Drew Peterson’s murder case -- a move that offers prosecutors hope and keeps the much-delayed trial on hold for at least several more months.

Peterson, 57, is charged with the 2004 drowning death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. Her death was initially labeled an accidental drowning, but the case was reopened after Peterson’s fourth wife Stacy disappeared in 2007.

Authorities on Wednesday are searching an area near Lake Ellenor in south Orange County for a missing Orlando woman, and a judge has decided to return custody of her children to their father, the only suspect in her disappearance.

More than 30 people from the Orlando Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff's Office are searching the area near Lancaster Road and Orange Blossom Trail, not far from where the last ping on Michelle Parker's phone was registered.

Parker, 33, disappeared Nov. 17 after dropping off her 3-year-olds twins with their father, Dale Smith. The same day, an episode of "The People's Court" aired nationwide featuring the couple in a dispute over a $5,000 engagement ring.

For weeks, defense attorneys have portrayed Joshua Komisarjevsky as a man struggling with untreated mental health issues made worse by a history of sexual abuse, head trauma and a strict religious upbringing.

But on Tuesday just before the end of evidence during Day 20 of the penalty phase of his trial, in which jurors will decide whether Komisarjevsky lives or dies, prosecutors struck back with the convicted triple murderer's own words.

A man learned the hard way that just because you are friends doesn’t mean you can lie in any old bed.

A Sandy man was charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court for assault, a second-degree felony for shooting his friend in the leg for lying in his bed the day after Thanksgiving, according to court documents.

Jose Baez talks to “Dateline NBC” this week about the mystery of Robyn Gardner’s disappearance in Aruba.Baez, who defended Casey Anthony, is part of suspect Gary Giordano’s legal team. Giordano is set to be freed from an Aruba jail later today.

An emergency custody hearing to determine who will care for Michelle Parker's children is scheduled for this morning in Orange County.

The Department of Children and Families removed her twin toddlers from their father's care Tuesday, a day after Orlando police named Dale Smith II as the sole suspect in Parker's Nov. 17 disappearance. The 3-year-old twins were placed in protective custody.

Gary Giordano is expected to return to the United States Wednesday after his late-night release from an Aruba jail after 116 days in custody, though authorities are still seeking to link him to the disappearance of Robyn Gardner, the traveling companion who was last seen with the businessman back in August.

READING, Pa. - November 22, 2011 (WPVI) -- A man from Berks County has been charged with molesting his young daughter and one of his daughter's friends.

Pennsylvania State Police say 39-year-old Richard Marsolick of Hereford, Pa. checked into the Cab Frye's Motel in Hereford on Halloween night with his son and 6-year-old daughter, after Marsolick's home lost power.

“Sky reminds me my own son, who’s always content and happy with everything he has, even if it isn’t much. As long as he isn’t hungry, he’s easygoing, relaxed and laid back boy. Sky has very adaptable and not easy to upset temperament.

"There aren’t any words to describe my heart brokenness associated with missing my dear grandson. I don’t believe that there is a hand capable of hurting my beautiful, precious child. I’ll give everything just to hold him in my arms again! I’ll never be able to talk about him in past tense - I’ll be waiting for his return back to me as long as I live!”

(CNN) -- Gary Giordano, a U.S. citizen held in Aruba in connection with the disappearance of a Maryland woman, was set free Tuesday after months in detention, Giordano's Aruban attorney Chris Lejuez told CNN.

Robyn Gardner was last seen in early August and Aruba's general prosecutor has vowed investigators will keep working "to get to the bottom" of what happened.

"We take this in stride," prosecutor Taco Stein said on Monday of a judge's decision to allow for Giordano's release. "We would have liked it to be different ... Of course, the investigation will continue."

The Department of Children and Families has taken emergency custody of the twin toddlers of missing Orlando woman Michelle Parker.

The 3 and a half-year-old boy and girl had previously been in the custody of their father, Dale Smith, but on Monday the Orlando Police Department named Smith as their prime suspect in Parker's disappearance.

On Tuesday, DCF filed and obtained a take into custody order from the court and the children were taken into custody by DCF around 4 p.m. The children had been subpoenaed to an Orlando child welfare office for questioning prior to the custody transfer earlier that afternoon.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) _ Defense attorneys have rested in their efforts to persuade a jury to spare a Connecticut man the death penalty for killing a woman and her two daughters in a 2007 home invasion.

Attorneys for Joshua Komisarjevsky ended their defense Tuesday in New Haven Superior Court. The Hartford Courant reports that prosecutors began a brief rebuttal before the jury that convicted Komisarjevsky decides whether he should get life in prison or a death sentence.

News 13’s cameras captured Smith leaving his Rose Boulevard home just after 1 p.m. Tuesday as he headed to the office of his attorney, Mark NeJame. He ran from our camera and would not answer any of our questions.

Updated 08:18 a.m., Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Grant D. Smith, 47, far right, a University of Utah professor, is arraigned at East Boston District Court in Boston, Monday, Nov. 28, 2011 on charges that he viewed child pornography on his laptop during a flight from Salt Lake City to Boston. Smith pleaded not guilty and was ordered held on $75,000 cash bail. From left, are defense attorney Patrick Murphy and prosecutor Erik Bennett. Photo: Pat Greenhouse, Pool / AP

COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS, Utah (AP) — Utah authorities have searched the Cottonwood Heights apartment of a University of Utah professor charged with viewing child pornography on a flight to Boston.

KSL-TV reports (http://bit.ly/vwG26m ) authorities spent about an hour Monday night at the home of 47-year-old Grant Smith. Police say they were gathering electronic media that could hold explicit images.

Smith pleaded not guilty Monday to charges against him and was ordered held in Boston on $75,000 cash bail.

Prosecutors say a fellow first-class passenger saw Smith viewing the images Saturday and took a cellphone photo before alerting a flight attendant.

SOUTH BEND — A 53-year-old woman facing three counts of felony child neglect in connection with the death of 10-year-old Tramelle Sturgis appeared in St. Joseph Superior Court Tuesday.

Dellia Castile’s attorney, Anthony Luber, filed a motion requesting, among other things, that the charges against Castile be dismissed on the grounds that the state failed to prove she was the guardian of Tramelle and his siblings.

Tramelle’s father, 35-year-old Terry Sturgis, has been charged with murder in connection with the boy’s death. Castile, who lived in their home, is accused of not reporting the alleged abuse on Tramelle and his siblings, which prosecutors say lasted for at least three years.

Luber also asked that Castile’s jail bond, currently set at $15,000, be lowered.

Just hours before Gary Giordano is set to be free from an Aruba jail, the family of missing Maryland woman Robyn Gardner has released a statement to ABC News saying they are disappointed at the lack of answers about how she disappeared.

"Needless to say, our family is very disappointed that even after all this time, we are no closer to finding out what happened to our Robyn," Kelly Reed, Gardner's cousin, told ABC News in a statement today. "We trust that the FBI and the Aruban authorities will continue their fervent efforts to investigate her disappearance."

Giordano, the lone suspect in Gardner's disappearance, is scheduled to be released at about 8 p.m. this evening and expected to leave the island immediately, before an appeals council can be convened to review the decision to free him. He has been held as a suspect in Gardner's disappearance since she vanished in August.